The Stirring Up of the Spirit

Ezra 1:1-11Ezra 1:1-11
1. In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremaih, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:
2. "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: "The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.
3. Anyone of his people among you – may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem.
4. And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem."
5. The family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites – everyone whose heart God had moved – prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem.
6. All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.
7. Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god.
8. Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah:
9. This was the inventory: gold dishes 30  silver dishes 1,000    silver pans 29   
10.   gold bowls 30    matching silver bowls 410   other articles 1,000
11. In all, there were 5400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along when the exiles came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

A lay man in the street calls it an idea. From time to time, we have been hearing, "I have an idea." Some, on the other hand call it intuition - an understanding that just opens up in our mind – an experience we find difficult to explain. We describe this experience as: "it just clicked in my mind, or my mind tells me that . . ." The children of God call it a vision. Vision in this content is not about seeing what the future holds. Whatever name we have given it, and whatever our experience might have been, it is the gentle hands of God that is stirring up our spirits to open up a chapter of divine wisdom in our mind so that His divine purposes on earth will be accomplished.

An inspiration or a calling that benefit a community, a city, state, country or the whole world at large is a vision from God." The greatness of a man is not measured by the size of his weight, his height nor his energy, but by the size of his vision. A great man is a normal human being with a great vision. A great vision cannot be achieved through human efforts. It is a gift through the divine mercy of God that man may participate as the co-builder of the on-going finishing touches of creation in the universe.

It the appointed time of deliverance of the Israelites, when God decided to gather the remnant of the household of Israel in captive from the four-corners of the world, He made use of the instrument at His disposal. We need to refresh our memory in this study. The Babylonians took the Israelites into captivity during the reign of Nebuchadenezzar. Even in the situation of no hope for mankind when the future seems bleak and nothing good is foreseeable, the plan of God for the hopeless situation will still be manifested. (Jeremiah 29:10-14Jeremiah 29:10-14
10. This is what the Lord says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.
11. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
12. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
13. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
14. I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile." Isaiah 55:10-11Isaiah 55:10-11
10. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11. So is my word that goes out from by mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.) The same king of Babylon, King Cyrus, that reigned after Nebuchadnezzar was touched by the stretched hand of deliverance of God to deliver the Jews from their captivity. (Proverbs 21:1Proverbs 21:1
1. The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.) King Cyrus might have thought that he was embarking on a laudable program to build a temple of God in Jerusalem but his thoughts were the fulfillment of deliverance plan for the Israelites. God worked through him to return the exiled Jews to their homeland. (Verses 2-4) He made the proclamation that allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and also provided the necessary protection so that the Israelites may build the temple of God in Jerusalem. He did not stop at this, he gave them money and returned all the temple articles taken by Nebuchadnezzar.

LOOK INWARD

Albert Einstein, the man who discovered energy wrote an equation "E=mc²" as his Ph.D. thesis. This may not mean anything to the man in the street but this three-variable equation became the power that all the nations of the world are seeking to have in order to solve their energy problems. Perhaps we may ask ourselves, "What do these letters mean to humanity?" It makes an energy difference among humanity. Perhaps we ever wonder why some are given special abilities and others are not? To this question I will say God gave everybody an opportunity to be a co-builder or a co-creator in His daily finishing touches of creation work of the universe.

Bezaleel and Oholiab fit in perfectly with the divine stirring up of the spirit. God specifically filled them with His spirit, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship to carry out all the work of construction of the sanctuary. (Exodus 35:30-35; 36:1-2Exodus 35:30-35; 36:1-2
30. Then Moses said to the Israelites, "See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,
31. and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts -
32. to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze,
33. to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic craftsmanship.
34. And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others.
35. He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as craftsmen, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers - all of them master craftsmen and designers;
Exodus 36:1-2
1. So Bezalel, Oholia and every skilled person to whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the Lord has commanded."
2. Then Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord has given ability and who was willing to come and do the work) Earlier in this study, we discussed the stirring up of the spirit of King Cyrus that led to his proclamation that the Temple of God should be build in Jerusalem. This mighty touch of Almighty God had a domino effect in the life of the people of God, the Israelites. God moved the hearts of the leaders, family heads, priests, and Levites and gave them a great desire to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Among the leaders that God moved their hearts is Zerubbabel and about 50,000 Israelites that summed up courage to return to Jerusalem. Major changes begin on the inside as God works on our attitudes, beliefs and desires. These changes lead to faithful actions. "For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." Philippians 2:13 These people humbled themselves before God. They returned to Jerusalem according to the instance of God and they remained the core of God’s people.

The proclamation of freedom went to all the twelve tribes of Israelites, but only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin responded. The other ten tribes disregarded the freedom and they chose to remain in Babylon. They had the opportunity to share in the divine vision of rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem but they failed to honor it. And they lost their lineage

God is constantly stirring our spirits. Some are sensitive enough to understand the divine direction that God was pointing them to. Some only feel somehow disturbed in their spirit but are void of understanding. Some on the other hand are spectators on this earth with a lot of potentials that will eventually die with the untapped wisdom that God had given them. Jesus Christ came to stir the hearts of sinners to return to God. His disciples continue on the faithful mission. Some honored the invitation. Some disregard the sacrifice. Look around you today and consider what the world has become. I pray that the death of Jesus Christ will not be in vain in your life.